Underground mining.



UNDERGROUND MlNlNG. APPUcMxoN mm ocT.15.1913.

Pntenfed Oct. 17, 1916.

' 9 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C WSSSEMANN. UNDERGROUND MAN'ING. AFPLICATON FILED 0CT. 15'. |913.

Patented 0st. 17, 1916.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. WISSEMNNL UNDERGROUND MINHIG.

APNIC/mon man oc. 15, :913,

Patnted @et 1916.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Cl JVSSEMANFL UNDERGROUND MINING.

APPLICATION FILED om. :5. 1913.

Patented Oct. l?, W16.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

MLV/77A 5 c. wxfssmmw.

UNDERGROUND WNING.

s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C. WISSEIVNN.

UNDERGHUUND NHNING,

f-.PPUCAUQN FILED 0m15.191s.

. 9 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

Patented Oct.. 17, 1916.

CK WISSEN/HW, UNDERGROUND MINNG APPLICATION min 0m15.191s.

9 SHEETS--SHEET 9.

mmv

muuu HHHHHMMWMMWW.

' labor. forkmens wages amounted to two-k nutren srafrns PATENT FFE UNDERGROUND MI/NING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916./

Application filed October 15, 1913. Serial No. 795,239.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CONRAD WissnMANN, a subject of the King of Prussia, residing at 33 Hochstrasse, Gelsenkirchen, in. the German Empire, have invented new and useful Improvements in Underground Mining, of which the following is a specification..

My invention relates to mining machinery, especially constructed for mining coal by entirely mechanical power.

Hitherto, mining and subsequent loading of coal had to be done mainly by manual thirds of the working expenses, therefore, it is. obvious that a displacementl of.manual labor by machine work would effect an important economy in the working of a coal field. l

lt is the object of my present invention to provide machinery by means of which mining of a coal field and loading of the coalv into buggies may be carried on entirely by mechanical means.

In the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification, an embodimentof my invention is shown by way of. example.

Figure 1 represents an inclined vertical section of a coal mine showing a plan view of my machinery in working position. Fig. 2 is a modified sectional side view of Fig. 1 showing the conveyer belt replaced by a chute. 'Fig 3 is a modification of the lower end of Fig. 2 in accordance with a. coal seam having an inclination of less than 30 degrees. Fig. 4 is a rear view partly in cross section on an enlarged scale of the coal cutting machine and the frame work connected thereto Y with some of the parts omitted. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the foot of the column 15 shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a. sec-v tional plan view on the line M-N in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a plan View of the lower part of `the machinery illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig.' 8 is a vertical section on line 8-S Fig. 7. Fig.

9 is a side view on an'enlarged scale of the upper part of the machinery. Fig. 10 is a l' plan View of a portion of Fig. 9. Fig. 11

is a cross section on line 11511 Fig. 4. Fig.

. 12 is a face view of said automatic coal cutting machine, and Fig. 13 a sectional View on the line Q-R in Fig. 12.

The construction, and the modeof opera.-

tion, of the machinery for underground minwork will generally keep within the following measurements; inclined length of seam face: 200 feet to 400 feet; level width of seam: 600 feet to 1000 feet. According to my invention two rows of mine columns are placed along the face ofthe seam extending etween the air head and the water level or rolley-way, the columns are rigidly connected, one with the other, by means of a frame work7 and they support on their heads small iron girders that carry sheeting boards which are to take the place of caps. The heads of the columns are pressed against the roof of the mine by means of mechanically operated screws. The entire' frame work is carried on Wheels which are rotated from a power driven shaft. Thus the whole frame work may be m'oved sidewise in the direction of the strike (see Figs. l and 2).

In the upper gangvay, or air head, strong mining columns 2 are put up., on which is hanging by means of rods 3 a longitudinally extending girder 4. On truckles 5 arranged to run along the girder 4, the whole frame work is suspended and may be moved sidewise in the direction `of -the strike while the work of mining is advancing. At the head of the frame work a drum 7 driven by the motor 6 is mounted, such motor being preferably a compressed air motor or a fire damp-proofbenzol motor. Around the drum 7 is passed a wire rope on the one side of which the automatically working coal cutting machine 8 is suspended while NAV.on the other side the rope is connected to a counter-weight 9 provided with truckles that run upon rails 159 as shown'in Fig. 4. The rails are mounted on lateral arms projecting from the frame Work. On the row of columns next to the face of the seams, and fastened to these columns, a Usshaped girder 17 is arranged to ser\'e as a guide for the automatic coal cutting machine shown in Fig. si that works along the face of the seam cutting off a slicein the whole thickness-of the stratum. The coals broken are moved by the cutting machine over plate 34 slightly inclined toward. suitable delivery means such as a traveling belt 33 that caryivherefrom the coals are loaded into trucks moving on the floor ofthe rolleyway.

At the lower fend of the frame Work, or at any. other suitable place, is arranged the motor 11 which can beused to 'drive-either ries the coals down on to the coal spout 61 the druinglQ` forlmovingfthetraveling belt i 33, or the shafts 21, 21 that cause, when rotated, thet columns to extend or contract,

or the shafts 40, e0 that communicate their rotation to the wheels 39 carrying the frame work when the latter is to be moved side- Wise in the line of the strike.

To put the coal cutting machine 8 into working position, the lower corner portion of the coal bed is hewn out by hand, and the roof of the chamber thus formed is secured by means of columns and timbers.

The mode Iof operation'will now be as follows: The coal cutting machine 8 is set to the lower end 13 in Fig. 1 from where it travels along the face oi the seam severing a coal slice of a thickness of more than one :toot whereupon the cutting machine is let down again to the chamber 13. By motor power the screw heads of the columns of the frame work are lowered, and the latter moved on sidewise also by motor power.

-In order to secure the trame work again girders 2G to which are connected crossbetween roof and floor of the mine the column heads are made to extend by applying motor power to the corresponding shafts and connections. The work of coal cutting may then be proceeded with. The buggies can be loaded successively and may be moved on to the colliery shaft in trains instead of singly, either by horses or by means of an engine.

As already mentioned the coal cutting machine 8 indicated in Fig. 1 and shown in detail in a rear view in Fig. 4, is being drawn over the tace of the coal deposit and thereby undercuts, and subsequently breaks oil", a slice of the seam in the whole thickness of the bed. The columns `15, l5 arranged along the face ol the coal bed may-be eX- changed, and substituted-by others to accord with the thickness ot' the coal stratum to be treated; thus beds ot any thickness varying between 1gfeet and 6 feet can be worked with this machinery.

The' lll-shaped irons 17 guiding the cutting machine by means of truckles 18 18 and rod 19a, are mounted in brackets fastened to 'the columns 15 by means oit collars 16 that carry on the opposite bracket bearings 20 for the shaft 21 having worms that engage the worm wheels 22 carried on the heads of the columns 15, and. kept in position by sleeves 241. The worm wheel is threaded to receive the screw spindle 23 that extends into the tubular column 15. Above the screw spindle 23 are supported, on the head plate 25,

beams 27 having diagonal stays made of dat-irons. Upon the girders 27 sheeting boards are placed covering more or less olf the surface of the roof; they are kept in proper position by) means of elastic clamps 29. Small stones reaking oit the roof slide off the smooth and slightly curved surface of the sheeting boards, or slip down between lmentl to the screw spindles 23a.

By putting the shafts 21, 2ln into motion the spindles 23, 23 are caused to extend or to go down, thereby pressing the roofing structure against the root of the mine, or lowering it down.

On the llower end of the columns 15 collars 30 are arranged fitting loosely around the columns, a's shown in Figs. 5 and 6. 0n the side facing the seam axles 31, 31 are connected to the collars 30, on whichl axles small rollers 32 are mounted that support and guide the traveling belt 33, as shown in Fig. e. Between the traveling belt 33 and the coal cutting machine an inclined plate 34 is provided that is supported on wheels 35 and discharges coal moved along its surface by a power y operated shoveling board,-on to the belt 33 to carry the coal down into the coal spout from where it is loaded into trucks ruiming on the floor of the rolleyway as shown in Figs. 3, and 8.

lWithin the lower part of each ofIthe tubular columns 15 and 15'0L and around a in 37 a helical s )rino 3G is arranged which rests on a yoke made integral with the pin, and which bears against a ring 38 kept in position by bolts screwed through the wall oit the column. The yoke ot pin 37 is rccessed to receive worm 42 and worm wheel 41, the latter being mounted on the axle ot the wheels 39, 39. The shaft 4f.) on which the worm 4.2 is mounted is rotated by the worm gearing e3, a3 trom the shaft flu. This shaft drives only column 1f', whiley column 15L is pulled, along by the connecting frame work 27.

YWhen the shafts 21, 21n are operated to extend the screw spindles 23, 23 oii the columns 15, lo the helical springs 3C are being con'ipressed until the ends of the columns touch the floor ot' the mine. ilu rcversing the direction ot revolution ot' sliaits 21, 21a, the springs 36 expand as soon as the screw spindles 23,23 are turned suliicicntl y to allow the columns 15 and 15 to i c themselves trom the ground, and therewith the whole frame work, which can 'then be wheeled on, in the line ci strike, by put ting into operation thc shaft Ll-(l. rllie re volving movement ot the latter will 'then be transmitted to the wheels 39 over the two worm gears i3, '3 and it?, 41 causing the frame work to move to the new working position where the extending columns are tgain propped up between mining roof and oor. i

On the side of the'frame Work, opposite to the coal bed and near the lower end, the motor 11 may be placed as illustrated in ,inclination of the coal bed may be like.

=the'gear wheel 54` that engages the gear i Wheel 55 over .which the rotation is imparted to the square shaft 56 that can be longitudinally moved in order to cause the gear toI wheel- 57, unrnovably mounted on it, to engage other gear wheels mounted on parallelly disposed shafts. On moving the gear wheel-57 into position I engagement with gear wheel 58 is eiiected which imparts rotation to drum 12 operating the traveling belt 33 that carries the coals as gained into trucks. If gear wheel 57 is moved into position 1I the shaft 5G is running free, while in the position III the gear wheel 57 engages gear wheel 62and transmits its rotation by means. of the bevel gear G3, (ist to the shaft 40 connected by a second bevel gear 75, 76 to the shaft 40 which ei'ects a sidewise lshifting of the Iframe work. On moving gear wheell 57 into the position IV the shaft 56 is again running tree. "In the position V the gear wheel 57 engages gear wheel (55 that is connected through gear (58, G9, intermediate shafts 70, 70:, bevel gears 71, 72; 74, 73 and 74, 73?, to shafts 21 and 21a. The movement of these latteryparts is reversed in position VI by means of an interv mediate gear wheel G6 inserted between the gear wheels 57 and 67. While the columns v 15, 15a will be extended when gear wheel 57 is moved into position V the 'opposite'operation will be elfected if gear wheel 57 is advanced into position VI; the latter operation resulting in lowering the screw heads of columns 15, 15, is carried outin less time owing to the larger ratio of transmission obtained in position VI.

In order to permit a rotation of gears 62 and G5 independent of each other, the shaft supporting the same is made in two sections las clearly illustrated in Fig. 7.

The mode of operation of the mechanism as described is as,follows. bupposing the coal cutting machine is at work, the gear` wheel 57 will then be in position I engaging the gear wheel 5S and thereby causing the traveling belt 33 to move. Afterfthe coal cutting machine has undercut and broken oli' a slice 'of coal along the entire length of the seam and has been returned into its lowerniost position, the gear wheel 57 is lmade to occupy the position VI in which it revolves, in backward direction, the shafts 21, 21 that now lower the heads of columns and lift the columns 15, 15a from the floor. 0n shifting gear wheel 57 into position III power of rotation is imparted to the shaft 40 whereupon the whole frame work is wheeled on sidewise into its new working position. Passing the position IV the gea-r wheel 57 is set to work in position V thereby causing columns 15, 151 to extend: the

springs 36 are compressed again' until the lcolumns rest lfirmly on the mining floor and the frame work affords suilicient hold for the traveling belt and the guidanceot' the. coal cutting machine. The gear wheel 5741s now to be shifted into position I, that starts the* cutting work anew.

These ditl'erent operations may be carried out by means of the motor 11 by a single operator in few minutes time.

.cured to segments 202 by means of screws lfteturning v 'the coal cutting machine into the starting 201, 20N. For stretching the traveling belt the stretching car S5 is provided carrying on an axle the drum 8G around which. the traveling belt passes. Before the frame work is loosened and moved sidewise the.` stretching device 87 must be undone as otherwise the frame work would be spoiled by bending.

Between the flat-iron trellis-work connecting the feet of the columns boards 24() (Fig. 9) are inserted and fastened in such a manner that they may be turned around their front edge and adjusted in accordance with the dip of the coal bed. In this way a flight of steps is Itoi/'ined between the two rows of columns for the engine-nien to control the whole machinerv..

The coal cutting machine as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 by reference numeral 8 will now be described with reference to the Figs. 11, 12 and 1a.

As is show n in Figs. 4 and 11 near the column heads of the first row U-shaped irons 17 are provided on the inside of which guide rollers 18,19 rotatably mounted on the flat iron piece 90, are made to run guiding the coal cutting machine by means of the adinstable rods 19a, 19a. One of these rods is fastened to the base of the machine while the other one is rigidly connected to the curved arm 91'projecting from the base of the machine and terminating in a ring through which the end of the steel rope is Woundthat passes around the drive drum 7 to the counter-weight 9.

' seam' thicknesses.

The coal euttingY machine consists of a front part working in the (-oal hed. and a rear part containingY the thriving inechanisin. A Common driving' shaft is provided that is coupled h v known means to the axle ot' a motor not shown in Fig'. 11 but indi- Cated in Fig: 1. The motor is arranged in the rear of the coal cutting machine and the aliove described coupling' device is such as to permit the cylinders ot' the motor always to oveupv a vertical position, what? ever the inclination ol the coal seam may he like.

The front part of the coal (cutting inaehine Contains the horers 93 arranged parallelly in a vertical plane and spaced about` il toet apart. rlhe wedgeshapecl casing' 91 of the hore shafts 93 assists plates 95, 95, 95h, 95? to break olf the undercut coal under the pressure exerted hy the slowly advancing; machine. This pressure is very considerable owing tothe large ratio of power transmission. The oscillating plates 95, 95, 941", 95 tapering toward'the for ard end are inserted into the bore holes to break up the undercut sliee or". coal and throw the coal ofi' sidewise.

The different parts composing the nia chine are, mounted on a framework consistingA of a numher of parts, designated by the numerals 96, 961506", 9621111 disposed in a eonnnon `vertical plane. These individual parts can be variahly spaced apart so that theanaehine niay be adapted to varying coal i Nithin short distances the thickness of the. seam varies not considerably; perhaps from 10 to 2.0 per cent. only.

ln order to gain the coal pure it is necessay to adapt the machine to varying` thicknesses of the seam. This may loe lone with the construction illustrated in Fig'. .12,

lo the lowerniost plate forming; a part et the machine-framen'ork/the plate 150 is secured hy screws. ln recesses of this platea A second plate 151 is made to slide, and is ured to the uppermost plate 96 by screws. For the intermediate plates 9G, 96", to slide in, the plate 151 is provided with a suitahle recess holding" and 2guiding.;` these plates. Further guiding' means are provided. by the guiding' hars 152, 15??. The different plates may be moved together, or apart, hy means of minvws-pinches 153, 153 each one com posed ot' several parts provided p itl). a screw thread of dillerent pitch, the pitch of suo-- eessive spindle parts increasing relatively with .the distance of the etive plates from the uppermost plate 9 'illie pitch each spindlopart must he suen that the spaces between the individual plates when the latter are being moved together or opent,

by means of spindles 158, 153 remain al.- niost equal with regard to each otliei'. The spindles 153, 153a turn in nutsbracketed to the plates, and are mounted et their upper by means of bevel ,gear wheels 1G12",

i Shaft 11.0 eerries worin .1"1.

"instit/shifted toward the rsa1.' oi: the man ends, in bearings secured to plate 96, 'lf-hey are rotated simultaneously by means of hand wheel 15S, shaft 157 and Worin gear 156. B v this construction the machine can. he adapted to all requirements. 79

riihe machine is guided along the face oit the Coal bed by `wheels' 145, 115, running in the grooves made by the borers 93, and 4is carried on wheels 101, 102 and; 103t t former two Wheels take up almost weight of the machine, and are poi driven for moving the machine-tornar They are running behind small way olea.; in the lowerniost bore grooves made by last and the present cutting shift. For that purpose the lowerxnost borer is not airang'eo in the same plane with the others but retracted somewhat as may he seen in Figlie. The runningc` wheel 103 in front of the diive wheels lui, 102 is adapted to be used for as steering' the machine in a vertical plane whieh .steeringV operation van he carried out 'by means ol hand iv .eel 106, 1G13, and woringear 10:3. By' raising, or lon'ei e', steering wheel 103 the machine is nia'i follow any i'regularities in the flip 5,. coal lied,

gWith soit and easily breaking' thicker slice may 'ne out oli the seam. adjust the machine to requireiner s of this kind the guide rods 19, and the ailles of the Wheels 161, 102, are adapted to he extended.

as shown in Figs. 11 and; 12.

When the machine is in operation 'the tation of shaft $2 istransnntted to shaft ,il i

terinedizite 'shaft 108, and Worin ivorni `wl'ieel 119i mounted. on 'the an e oi "wheels 161, 102. The shaft 11u ada., to loe displaced, thereby disengaging worin 109 and "111; the machine can then "L, itreeiy moved. the machine to wheeled backward 'the sha ft 92 is longitndi anni] ne is longitudinally oreal foral/'arti tilltlie worm'116 en the'norni wheel 11'? mounted en the axle of Wheels 101, this position. the :j .if wheel. 113 engages geni' Wheel 1i and transmits the rotation the powef 'ven shaft 9" shaft 115, wenn geen 1"'6, 11'?, and@ 101, 1&2 father.A is moved in has are not wor o mo'exnent of the latten Y Besides the gear wheels mentioned there is a. fartheiilio'vel gear'wheel provided on shaft 92 engaging the hevelvear Wheel 12@ F. for the following purpose: 1th a coal bed .130

having a large angle of inclination with the horizontal the coal broken vmay easily be pushed by the board 119 over the inclined plate 34, on to the traveling belt 33, or on to a coal chute th'at may be used instead of a traveling belt, while the machine is advancing. However with an almost horizontally disposed coal bed it isnecessary to impart to the beard 119 a shoveling movement. This is effected from the shaft 92 by means of bevel gear 118, 120, two'worm gears 121, 121% and two connecting rods 121". ln performing the shoveling movements'the board is guided at 122 in a known manner. By

" these shoveling movements of board 1.19 the coals are transferred to the conveyer 33.

At the front end there is xed to theshaft 92 the gear wheel 123 engaging gear wheel 12-1 for the purpose of driving the cutting tools. At the side of gear wheel 12-1, on the same shaft therewith, a bevel gear wheel 125 is mounted engaging the bevel gear -wheel 125s mounted on the vertically disposed shaft 123 whichlatter is com osed of parts rendering the shaft extensible for the reason described in connection with the screw spindlesv 153, 1433". On the shaft .1G further. bevel gear wheels are provided meshing with similar bevel gear wheels mounted on the shafts 12S, 1281, 128, 128, which latter shafts as well as the shaft 134, are con-nected ,by universal joints 130, 132, intermediate shafts 131, 133 to the shafts 93L that terminate in the borers. 93. The cutters may be detached and substituted by newly sharpened ones.

0n the shaft 134 a worm 135 is provided engaging the worm wheel 136 fixed on the vertical shaft 137 that is adapted to be eX- tended in the same way, and for the same purpose, as described in connection with vertical shaft 126. For each of the plates 96, 96, 96", 96, two cam disks 138 areprovided on shaft 137 which cam disks engage guide rollers 139 connected to oscillating plates 95. The latter are rotatably mounted with their tapering ends at 141, and are guided while performing their oscillating movements by guide bars 1110. They are connected to the frame of the machine by helical springs 142 that pull the plates 95 against the cam disks 138. While the plates are advancing into the bore holes they break by their oscillating movement the coal oil" the bed.

rl`he undergroimd mining machinery, as hereinbefore descriliied, that makes it possible for Works to change 'from hand labor to mechanically working the mine, means an extraordinary technical advance especially for the reason because mining work may now be concentrated upon a small area. That' facilitates and economizes getting the coal and keeping open and airing the mine. Besides, the work of gaining coal be reduced or stopped entirely, or very much increased without meeting difliculties. Workmay atv times Obviously parts of this machinery for underground mining may be modified without departing from so 'l do not wish to be limited to details of construction.

Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the Unitedv States, isz--l 1. Mining machinery', especially Afor under-ground coal mining, comprising a meautomatic coal cutting and breaking machine along the face of the coal seam, a travcling belt arranged on the side of the movable frame work, a coal spout beneath the discharge ofthe traveling belt, said spout being connected to the movable frame work,

a drum on the head of the movable frame work, around which drum a steel rope is passed that draws, on one side of the movable framework, the automatic-coal cutting and breaking machine lalong the seam face, and is connected to a counterweight sliding on rails provided on the opposite side ot the movable frame work, an automatic coal cutting and breaking machine provided with means for moving theA machine, for driving the cutting and breaking mechanism, and for moving the coal broken on to the traveling bed, an inclined plate between-the automatic coal' cutting and breaking machine, and the`traveling belt, said plate being connected to ,the movable frame work, means on the head end of the frame work for operating the drum, means on the foot end of the movable frame work for operating the coal conveyer, and the mechanism by means of which the movable frame work is moved in the line of the strike, whereby the said other parts ot the machinery `move with the frame work, substantially as. described.

2. Mining machinery for underground mining, comprising in combination with an automatic coal cutting and breaking machine, with a coal conveyor and a coal spout, a mechanically movable =frame work hanging by means of truckles on a girder that extends along the upper gangway of the mine, the Jframe work consisting of two rows of extending mining columns being connected, one with theother, .by a flat-iron latticework arranged near the feet of the columns, s aid columns carrying on extending screw heads longitudinal and cross beams covered with sheeting boards held in position by .elastic clamps` said screw heads being for the purpose of extending or lowermg them,

the spirit of my invention,'

ychanically movable frame work guiding an mechanically operated, by means of worm gears, from two longitudinally extending power' driven shafts, said columns being provided at their feet with wheels, the axles of which are mounted in yokes which latter are slidably mounted in the tubular interiors of 'the columns and are placed under spring pressure in such a manner that the yoke with the wheel axle .attached is pushed into Athe tubular column while the screw head of the latter is extended for the purpose of securing it between mine roof and floor, said wheels on one row of columns being operated, by means of worm gears, from a longitudinally extending power driven shaft, for the purpose of shifting the frame work sidewise, said shafts for mechanically extendingor lowering the screw heads of the columns, and for causing the whole frame work to move, receiving their rotation from a Inotor driving the traveling belt and shaft mounted on the lower part of the/frame work` substantially as described.

3. Mining machinery especially for underground coal mining, comprising a mechanicallymovable frame work guiding an automatic coal cutting and breaking machine along the seam face, a travelin belt arranged on the side of the mova le frame' -Y work, a coal spout beneath the discharge of the traveling belt, said spout being connected'to the movable frame work, controlling means for operating the two shafts longitudinally extending along the. upper part of the columns for the purpose of causing the screw heads of the columns to extend or to contract, andthe one shaft extending along the lower part of the columns for the purpose of causing the frame work to move sidewise in the line of the strike, said controlling means consisting of a shaft receiving its power of rotation from a motor mounted on lateral projections of the movable frame work, said shaft carrying between two bearings a ixed gear wheel, and adapted to be displaced longitudinally in order to bring the gear wheel into engagement with different gear wheels mounted on intermediate shafts parallelly disposed with said shaft, to cause the drum of the traveling belt to work, or to turn the shafts for operating the screw heads of the columns in one direction or in the other as may be required, or to impart power of rotation to the shaft that causes the whole frame work to move, substantially as set forth.

In testimonywhereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

coNRAD wIssEMANN. [L sq Witnesses:

HELEN NUFER, ALBERT N UFER. 

